


Second Sight

by sleepytardis



Category: Original Work
Genre: Ireland, Northern Ireland, Rituals, Wicca, Witchcraft, ancient witchcraft, wiccan rituals
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-10-02 19:25:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17269649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleepytardis/pseuds/sleepytardis
Summary: Ava Murphy planned on spending the last few weeks of her study abroad in Belfast checking off her Northern Ireland bucket list. When her hike across the Giant's Causeway takes her to a cave that has been long lost, the universe carves a different future for her.





	Second Sight

**Author's Note:**

> This story was originally written as a NaNoWriMo. The way it was written means that it was broken into different bits and pieces, so the chapters may not make much sense. But, this is my art-in-progress. Please let me know what you think!!

It wasn’t the alarm clock that woke Ava from her futile sleeping. Rather, it was the ceaseless pounding of a heavy Irish rain on the ancient glass windowpane of her cozy room at the inn that stirred her. The sleep stuck to her eyes as she dragged herself out of the bed, attempting to be a decent roommate and not wake the three other girls that had decided to tag along on this adventure of hers.

              It wasn’t that Ava disliked company… well actually, it was precisely that. But seeing as how she and these three girls were sharing a flat in Belfast together this semester, she felt obligated to invite them along on her self-guided tour of the far north. Not as though she had anticipated them saying yes. For the semester’s majority, the ladies had preferred Belfast’s night not-so-life and nursing aggressive morning-after hangovers to discovering Ireland’s hidden secrets. Ava figured these party-types had realized that they’d missed the adventure part of their adventures abroad, what with the nearing end of their time in the UK’s bit of the Emerald Isle.

              Her deep thought was interrupted with more of a start than was necessary. Hannah, a girl from Oklahoma, turned in her twin bed and mumbled something along the lines of “Ava? Is it raining?” Getting a sole “Mmmhmm” from Ava, not bothering to try and speak this early in the morning. Four o’clock in the morning was too early, even if there was an incredible adventure to behold soon.

              Ava headed to the small bathroom shared by their floor of the Inn. It was a convenient combination; the group had come just before tourist season, and Ava was up early enough that any casual sightseers were still fast asleep in bed. The bathroom was all hers.

              She took a quick shower, just to rinse off the stiffness from the long night’s rest, then set to work. She pulled the top half of her hair, the part that she kept just long enough to cover her undercut, to pull it up into a tight messy bun. There was no need for her to leave her poor mousy brown hair down to be tossed by the whims of mother nature today. It was due time for Ava to focus on the adventure ahead rather than the way that she looked. Ava confidently stared into the mirror, her fierce green eyes staring back at her, as though she already knew how incredible today’s adventure was going to be. Satisfied, she turned the light off and returned to her room to awaken the others.

              The group had hit the standard tourist attractions in the Northern Ireland area: they had gone on the tour of the Belfast wall—a history that was shockingly dark, what with the bombings and a city-wide wall having been around longer than that of Berlin. Ava’s favorite so far (other than the castles; those were on an entirely different level as far as she was concerned) had been that massive Titanic museum in the shipyard. They had everything—history of the ship being made, history of each of the crew members, how tickets were dispersed, evidence of the wreckage, pieces of the iceberg… it was a morbidly-fascinated nerd’s dream come true. Nothing could stop Ava from pursuing what had drawn her to Ireland in the first place; ancient castles, ruins older than anything, and the myths that made Ireland, Northern or not, famous.

It took what felt like ages to get Hannah and friends out of the room at the inn. Several reminders on Ava’s part served the information that they were indeed going to be outside in the rain all day and that, no, they shouldn’t straighten their hair at all because it will have been done in vain. The group had lucked out with where they were staying, and it added to the adventure that it sounded like something straight out of Ava’s favorite stories. A creaking wooden sign, just barely held up by two rusting chains outside the front door, read “The Smuggler’s Inn,” and it felt like the inn itself had fallen out of stories of ancient sailors and pirates staying where they could find an inn with a pleasant view of the ocean. The combination of the howling winds, accompanied by a symphony of crashing waves and stinging rain, set the perfect mood for the grand finale to Ava’s long-dreamed adventure.

              “I don’t get it, why is it even called the Giant’s Causeway?” Aubrey asked, sitting shotgun and reading the newest literature on the geological specter. “It doesn’t go anywhere.”

              Ava smiled and brushed off the ignorant jab at the classic name. “There’s a long fable about the causeway itself, involving a giant and a witch. It’s said to contain magic within each of its stones, and that the stones used to be pillars, holding up a massive causeway reaching all the way to the island northeast of the mainland. Every time I hear the legend, I get chills…” The recollection of Ava’s childhood legends told to her by her loving grandmother gave her a sense of serenity amidst the pounding rain on the windshield. “I just hope this weather lets up before we begin our hike.”

              If there were any glances of distaste at the mention of a hike in this weather, Ava had to remind herself to brush it off. The group knew what they were getting themselves into when they signed up for the adventure into the great North with Ava, muddy boots and all. Plus, she reminded herself, the United States was a big country. Just because she was returning to Massachusetts didn’t mean the other girls were going to come stalk her from their homes in the far spans of the rest of the United States. This trip was for herself, and she was going to embrace that.

              No one else dared to touch the idea of driving on the “wrong” side of the road. To Ava, it was just another part of the adventure. It didn’t hurt that the road turned so suddenly that the other girls wouldn’t have seen it coming—just Ava; besides, the glory of being a motorcyclist from the States meant that she could take those curves on—right or wrong side of the road—with no problem whatsoever. It was to her dismay that the drive only took a small amount of time. Hannah, Kayla, and Rachel all dramatically leapt out of the rental car upon arrival, dramatically kissing the ground out of relief.

              Kayla laughed aloud as she kissed the soggy Northern Ireland soil and breathed a staged, “I am so glad to have solid ground below my poor feet again!”

              “I never thought I’d see the next day!” Rachel chortled as she tossed her long brown hair behind her and flashed a kind smile in Ava’s direction. Hannah took her time coming out of the car and stayed silent.

              “I get it, the Emerald Isle’s no place for the weak-hearted,” Ava poked, closing the door behind her and ensuring the car was locked before heading to the main gate of the Causeway’s entrance.

              “Okay, I’m not going to lie,” Hannah finally spoke up, “that building over there looks like some sort of spaceship.”

              “Well,” Ava stifled a laugh, “you’re not wrong. But I guess you guys will want to go there. It’s all the good stuff in one secure, indoor building.” She glanced down at her watch and then at her phone. “Okay, so here’s the plan.” She clapped her hands together before she began monologuing. “I know we don’t have cell service, or wireless internet…”

              “Don’t remind me,” Kayla moaned.

              “…But we do have watches or phones for time. Give me an hour and a half, tops. I have a couple of walks I want to do up to the amphitheater and down to the cliffsides. There’s a little restaurant down the way if you want to meet there?” Ava lowered her arms and expanded them out, expecting an answer.  She was met with nods and solemn “Mmmhmm” remarks, which was good enough for her. “Cool! I’ll see you then. And then we can go to the castle just west of here.”

              “Hey, Ava!” Rachel hollered just as they parted ways at the visitor’s center, “don’t die, okay? Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” Ava signed her a quick thumbs-up before tightening her backpack straps and getting started on the long walk she had ahead of her.

              The scenery was grey and drab, something that would bore most people. Ava, however, had been looking forward to visiting this marvel for some time now—she could almost feel the energy that the world had to offer at this magical, legendary spot. She wasn’t necessarily a believer in spirits, ghosts, energies… any of that stuff felt like a load of malarkey for the most part to Ava. But now, here, in the deep grays and greens and blues of Ireland, her mind may have changed for a second.

              Ava’s boots proved futile against the slick Ireland mud as she began her descent to the first half of the causeway. She knew that this is what everyone came to do, so it wasn’t surprising that the trail was beaten raw. The significant lack of any plant life on the trail made it impossible to gain almost any footing, and Ava felt like she was encountering an ironic, muddy slip and slide in the clever disguise of an Irish tourist trap.

              She hissed a curse through her teeth as she finally bit the dust and landed with a heavy _thud_ on her bottom, just towards the end of the descent. “Okay, Ireland, give me your best shot. I was banking on getting muddy,” she jibed at the ground around herself. Jacket and jeans now brushed off as well as they were ever going to, she headed towards the main attraction. The closer she got to the sea, the more Ava felt as though mother nature was trying to hypnotize her. A symphony of crashing waves, the dull murmur of tourists all around, and the peaceful sound of gravel crunching under boots reminded Ava why she had come. This place was truly magical.

              The first thirty minutes of her excursion were uneventful and people-packed. Several groups begging other groups to take their picture atop the basalt columns, others enraptured in the telling over and over of the giant Finn McCool and how he fought off the giant from Scotland that so badly wanted to come on over to Ireland and beat someone up. It was a child’s story, in Ava’s opinion, and was designed to best suit a group of toddlers or a group of hungry no-brainers who would eat any story up—so long as it was told in an Irish accent.

              This was where the adventure got interesting. Ava stepped onto the path less travelled—literally, she made a note that as soon as she walked past the Grand Causeway attraction, the raw-beaten path ceased, and the grassy walking trail began. It was her goal to get across the small mountainside and onto the next section of columns, away from everyone else. It would make her meditation on the majesty of mother nature that much more intimate, away from the selfie-sticks and the group-picture-begging.

              Wandering, Ava had learned, was the best way to reach anywhere. Hypnotized by the sounds of the crashing waves and the soft chirps of the surrounding birds, Ava made it down to a part of the path she didn’t recognize. There were no other people here, which she counted as a blessing, but… she didn’t remember a cave being on the walking trail description. There was something truly enchanting about this place, and yet her gut was also screaming at her to get out and go back to safety. She chuckled to herself. “Do one thing each day that scares you,” she muttered under her breath. Eleanor Roosevelt would be proud of her, or at least she certainly hoped so.

              She scrambled over rocks and dipped her feet in the leftover seawater in the crevices before the cave and turned around to look at her successes before continuing.

              Her jaw dropped at the how quickly the scene behind her had changed. What she saw reminded her of a story that Hannah had told her about Nebraska.

              “The thing about living in farming country,” Hannah had explained, “is that there’s nothing to protect you from twisters. The good news is that you can always tell when they’re coming.” Ava recalled asking Hannah why that was, and she continued. “When twisters are headed your way, the sky does the weirdest thing… it turns green.” The group had frozen, enticed to hear what would happen next. “Like, the sky looks like bad split pea soup, and the winds pick up, and that’s your cue to get the hell out of there and into the closest cellar.”

              The sky behind Ava no longer looked like the dreary Ireland grey that had started her morning. It was exactly what Hannah had described from her childhood. Tornado weather. Ava had done all her research, and she was one-thousand percent sure that Northern Ireland didn’t get tornadoes. In fact, Northern Ireland may have been one of the most temperate climates in the entire world, but here it was. Cold, hard evidence was staring her right in the face: she was in eminent danger of being swept away.

              “The wind feels like it’s about to lift you off of the ground, like you’re Dorothy and you’re about to take a trip to oz,” Hannah’s voice was echoing in the back of Ava’s head. “Almost like you expect to see a wicked witch on a broom laughing as she cycles around you. It’s terrifying, genuinely.”

              The thing was, Ava had thought, that there was absolutely no wind. In fact, she was absolute in believing entirely the opposite. There was nothing. The waves had silenced their crashing and whipping against the cliffside. The wind had ceased any howling. No hikers had come to pass or may ever pass her secret little cave. The sky continued to darken, first at a pea soup, then like a forest at night, and finally…

              Complete darkness. The sudden and total darkness prompted Ava to tear her phone from her pocket in a flash and snap on the flashlight. Despite the brief amount of fumbling, the light was on, and she knew that the only way now was into the cave. She was aware that this wasn’t necessarily the smartest decision, but it also felt as though she had no other choice. The darkness that had consumed the entirety of the exit of the cave seemed to be pushing in on her. A voice in the back of her head was encouraging her to continue her pursuit of the cave.

              “Do one thing every day that scares you,” Ava reminded herself again and again, scrambling over the wet rocks and splashing through the shallow puddles of seawater. The flashlight on her phone reflected off the sea-kissed walls as she continued, the only sounds coming from her scuffling and the occasional drip of water from a stalactite.

              The relative peace of the cave was interrupted by a sad-sounding ding from her phone as it shut off and turned off the flashlight, leaving Ava in complete darkness. Or it would have, if it weren’t for the faint glow from deeper within the cave, filling Ava’s eyes with an emerald glow. It was entrancing, and now that voice in the back of her head feasting for hunger was ravaging her to move forwards. Just as she had justified earlier, she had nowhere to go but in. For all Ava knew, the darkness that shrouded the cave’s entrance would still be there. It would take much more courage than she had to try to walk through those clouds that resembled a black hole. From all the science fiction Ava had read, a black hole never meant anything good.

              The emerald light continued to guide her way, and as it grew and grew, Ava realized just what she had entered. It felt like a scene right out of Indiana Jones, with a bright green crystal hidden under old, tattered clothing, and bone-white stones jutting out of the walls. From all her research, she could have sworn that it was a ritual chamber that was used by the ancients of Ireland. The altar in the center of the room, empty of anything that may have been on it in rituals past, had a carving on it that Ava was sure she had seen before. A full circle in the center had two crescent moons one on either side facing outward. An empty altar and such a beautiful carving drew Ava even closer, the energies she felt at the entrance to the room growing ever stronger.

              _Ava_ …

              Her head whipped side to side to scan the room with a desperation for human contact in this seemingly isolated cave. The scarf around her neck nearly flew off her body with how quickly she turned.

              _Come closer, Ava…_

              Goosebumps encroached upon her skin as the words surrounded her. Ava’s ears couldn’t tell where they were coming from, just that they wanted her to approach the crystal, hiding under the tattered clothing on the side of the room. The crystal glowed brighter and brighter…

              _Touch it, discover us… discover who we were… who we_ are _…_

Ava could resist it no longer. Her hand reached out towards the crystal…

             

              Everything went dark.


End file.
